Declaration to increase women representation in Sabah assembly

KOTA KINABALU (Oct 12): Political leaders and activists in and outside Sabah support the Kinabalu Declaration on Women-Only Additional Seats to increase women representation in the Sabah State Assembly.

A total of 152 individuals have signed up following a workshop held on October 7 and 8 in Kota Kinabalu.

The political leaders and civil society activists of Sabah, acknowledging that the United Nations has, since 1990, established the objective of achieving a minimum representation of 30% of women in decision-making positions at all levels of governance and policy-making;

Reaffirming the commitment of the State of Sabah to being an inclusive and progressive society, recognising, upholding, and appreciating the rights, roles, and contributions of women in all aspects of social, economic, and political life;

Regretting that Sabah ranks ninth amongst the 13 states in Malaysia in terms of the percentage of women elected to the State Legislative Assembly at only 8.2%, or six out of 73 elected members; Concerned that despite having six nominated seats in the Dewan Undangan Negeri, only one of these appointees is a woman, resulting in only a marginal increase in women’s representation to 8.9%, or seven out of 79 members; Alarmed that Sabah has a low percentage of female representation in the Dewan Rakyat, with women making up only 12.0%, or three out of 25 parliamentary representatives; Deeply concerned that Sabah ranks 15th out of 16 states and federal territories in Malaysia in the Gender Gap Index 2022, with a political empowerment score of 0.031, reflecting a significant gender imbalance in political participation and representation.

They call upon:

1. All coalitions and parties contesting in the upcoming 16th Sabah State Election to nominate a minimum of 30% women candidates in the contested constituencies;

2. The GRS-led State Government and the Opposition parties to work together to amend the Sabah State Constitution and introduce a “Women-Only Additional Seats (WOAS) Enactment” to designate the six nominated seats as women’s reserved seats. This would ensure that women’s representationis increased by 7.6% or six out of 79 of the elected and nominated members in every state assembly, leaving only a 22.4% gap to close in the 73 elected seats.

The “WOAS” Enactment will operate as follows, resembling a “Closed List Proportional Representation”:

1. After nomination, all parties contesting in any constituency in a Sabah State General Election may nominate up to six women candidates, with a fixed order of priority;

2. After the election, the six nominated seats will be allocated to the parties based on their overall vote share, and the seats will be filled by nominees in the predetermined order;

3. In the event of any vacancy among the nominated members, the next available candidate from the same list will be appointed to fill the position.